What are the Different Generations of Solar Cells?
It is generally considered that there are three basic generations of solar cells, though one of them doesn’t quite exist yet, and research into it is ongoing. The first generation of solar cells are high-cost, high-efficiency. These solar cells are manufactured in a fashion similar to computers, involving extremely pure silicon, use a single junction for extracting energy from photons, and are very efficient, approaching their theoretical efficiency maximum of 33%. In 2007, first generation solar cells accounted for 89.6% of commercial production, though the market share of these solar cells are declining. The manufacturing processes that are used to produce first generation cells are inherently expensive, meaning that these cells may take years to pay for their purchasing costs. It is not thought that first generation cells will be able to provide energy more cost effective than fossil fuel sources. The second generation of solar cells, which has been under intense development for the
